Aim:The study was conducted to investigate the effect of an education program about evidencebased interventions for oral feeding supporting practices in preterm infants on the knowledge levels of neonatal nurses and physicians.
Materials and Methods:The study is a single group study with a pretest-posttest pre-experimental design. It was conducted on 44 healthcare professionals (nurses and physicians) at a medical faculty hospital in Turkey. Data were collected using the Demographic Characteristics Form and the Preterm Infant Feeding Knowledge Form. The participants were divided into groups of 8 to 10 and each education was completed in a single session lasting for about 45 minutes, in a total of five days. The participants completed the pretest prior to the education program. The posttest was administered two weeks after the completion of the education. The data were analyzed using the McNemar test and the paired t test. Results: The average age of the participants is 26.14±4.81. Of the 44 participants, 86.4% are nurses, 13.6% are physicians, and 88.6% are female. While 63.6% of the healthcare professionals had a Neonatal Resuscitation Program certificate, 70.5% did not have the neonatal intensive care nursing certificate. It was found that 40.9% of the participants did not receive education about preterm infant feeding, while those who received training before were found to have breast milk training in the context of in-service training. The mean pretest rate of correct answers was 58.69%, while the mean posttest rate of correct answers was 78% (p<0.001) Conclusion: It has been revealed that the education on oral feeding supporting practices in preterm infants improves the knowledge levels of the healthcare professionals.
